Portable liquid storage containers, such as gasoline storage containers or the like, are usually provided with upwardly extending spouts, the spout being closed by a lid or cap which is usually screwed onto threads provided on the spout. However, the container spouts are all too frequently too short to permit transfer of, for example, gasoline, from the storage container to, for example, an automobile gasoline tank, without excessive spillage and the concomitant hazards associated therewith. Additionally, the container spouts are generally of too large a diameter to permit, without excessive spillage, transfer of gasoline from the storage container to a smaller receptacle, such as, for example, an outboard motor or a power lawn mower gasoline tank.
Although conventional conical funnels may be used to facilitate liquid transfer, they are, as a practical matter, useful only in instances where liquid is transferred in a substantially vertical plane and are virtually useless in, for example, transferring gasoline from a storage container to a typical automobile gasoline tank. Moreover, as such funnels are separate from the storage container, they often become misplaced and often cannot be located at the time when they are most needed.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide a pouring funnel for use with liquid storage containers having upstanding spouts, which funnels may be readily, detachably engaged with the container spout and which also does not interfere with removal and replacement of the container spout lid or cap while the funnel is in place. One such detachable pouring funnel is described in Martinsen, U.S. Pat. No. 2,580,811. The Martinsen funnel comprises a generally frusto-conical body, the body being secured to the container spout by a resilient spring element. This construction is designed and claimed for use with flat top containers and would not be efficiently usable with a dome-top container.